Cherian Thomas talks about food with a delicious passion. Visions of succulent South Kerala style prawn pickle and divine white chocolate cake float invitingly before your eyes as he details their recipes and qualities with alacrity — before your jaw drops with the realisation that he’s a software engineer and not a trained chef.

The former Zynga employee decided to give up his well-paying job to follow his taste buds in 2012 and started the Cucumbertown (www.cucumbertown.com). Designed like something in between a Tumblr and a Pinterest account, it’s a recipe network where anyone can contribute recipes “in a frictionless, delightful way,” as Thomas puts it. It gives recipe bloggers a platform to showcase their work, interact with the community, build their network and improve their recipes and those of others. “It gives the food lover and blogger an identity and enriches them,” explains the 28-year-old.

There are moments when you can tell that life is good; that life is worth living. Time slows down and you’re clutched in the grip of this magic when you feel, ‘this is just perfect’. That time or moment or feeling is Cucumbertown (in Malayalam). Started from a deep love for cooking and a desire to want more people take up cooking, Cucumbertown is a closely knit tribe curating recipes from the world over.

Ever heard of a Sunflower egg? Or ‘death by garlic?’ or the African filter coffee? If the answer is no, log on to www.cucumbertown.com. The website is a library of mouth-watering recipes written by foodies from different parts of the world. From a simple devilled egg to the Kozunak, a traditional Bulgarian Easter bread, the website will take you on an interesting recipe trail spanning continents.

An online platform for cooks and amateurs to share their recipes and genuine love for food, the website creates a network of people to participate in the joys of cooking. “It gives an online identity to people to showcase their dishes,” says Cherian Thomas, one of the founders of the project. “It is where you want to go to every morning and ask what can I cook with an egg, parsley, French bread and oregano?” says Cherian, who hails from Kollam.